


The Iron Gate

by AMidnightDreary



Series: Frostiron Advent Calendar 2019 [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Demon Summoning, Demon Tony Stark, First Meetings, Loki (Marvel) Feels, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Young Loki (Marvel) - Freeform, but not underage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21680638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMidnightDreary/pseuds/AMidnightDreary
Summary: Loki decides to stop abiding by his father's rules.
Relationships: Loki & Tony Stark, Loki/Tony Stark
Series: Frostiron Advent Calendar 2019 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558924
Comments: 53
Kudos: 443
Collections: Tenebrific's Finished Fics





	The Iron Gate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Batwynn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batwynn/gifts).

> Happy December 5th, I guess! xD We hope you like it! 💕

The royal library of Asgard was one of the biggest in the Nine Realms, and ever since Loki had learned to read, he spent most of his freetime between the high shelves. He liked how the spines felt beneath his fingertips, liked the dusty smell of ancient words, the quiet rustling of pages in an otherwise completely silent room.

_ Home. _

Loki was curious by nature. He had to be, because he had no physical strength he could base his power on, so he had to find it in clever words and quick thoughts. The others had the Norns and Yggdrasil, but Loki's god had always been and would always be knowledge_ . _

He was still young when he had read all the books in the library of Asgard he was allowed to read. Twice. He had spent years and years in the library in Vanaheim, too. He had stolen books from the Light Elves, he had set foot on Midgard and taught them what books _ were. _He had read and read and read until there weren't any books left to read.

Well - except these.

When he was a little less than a millennium old, he found himself standing in front of the iron gate that kept several shelves of precious books out of his reach. It was dark in the library, the only light came from a tiny, green glowing ball that was hovering right above the young mage's head.

He wasn't allowed to be here. His father had caught him many times, and every time he had told Loki that the books in this part of the library weren't anything for a boy, that they were _ dangerous _, and that Loki might gain access to them when he had proven himself.

Loki had believed his father when he had said that. Now, though, Loki was still young, but not naive anymore. He knew that there was nothing to be proven, nothing he could do that would be _ enough _ to make his father change his mind. Odin wouldn't let him have this, because he didn't want Loki to know these things.

Loki had never taken kindly to rules, but until now, he had accepted this one. He hadn't had another choice, because the magic that kept him from opening the gate was his father's, and therefore very powerful.

It had taken Loki years to find a way through the gate. But now here he was, with his hand dancing over the cold iron, fingers already glowing green, and it took only a few seconds until the gate opened with a soft _ click. _ Loki entered the forbidden area of the library and calmly closed the gate behind him, knowing that he wouldn't be disturbed.

In the coming weeks, Frigga remarked rather often on how tired Loki looked, and Odin always said, "Of course he does. He spent the whole night reading, as always," in that slightly sour tone he always used when someone reminded him of what a scrawny, bookish mage had become of his youngest son.

_ If only you knew _, Loki thought every time, and he took care to keep his smirk away from his lips until he could return to the privacy of his rooms, or to the safety he only found between the pages of an old and long forgotten book.

The new tomes and scrolls kept him busy for quite some time, but it didn't take long until Loki encountered a problem: many of the books were written in languages he didn't understand, and often the concepts they tried to explain were just too difficult to grasp.

He found a solution about a year after walking through that gate for the first time, and he found it - of course - in a book.

It was the first book Loki stole from the library, the first he took into his rooms and kept there. Kept it right next to his pillow, even, because he read in it every night, until his eyes were burning and refused to stay open any longer. His fingertips had traced every pattern that was drawn on the pages, every circle, every letter. It was very, very old magic, and difficult, but not too difficult for Loki. Far from it. He knew that it would take him only a few days to collect everything he would need, and only a few hours to prepare everything. Loki could already see it in his mind, had imagined every step he would take, everything he would do. 

He would lock his bedroom with wards that would hide him even from the Gatekeeper's prying eyes, and then he would push all furniture out of the way, until there would be enough room. He would take some chalk and draw the circle on the floor with steady fingers, and he would light candles and say the words and then -

_ A teacher. _

It was the middle of the night when he finally did it. His hands weren't at all steady when he picked up the book, but he made himself take a few breaths and let himself be calmed by the feel of the familiar leather binding beneath his fingertips. Eventually he looked up and got out of bed, leaving the book nestled in the sheets.

He locked his room with but a thought, and almost absently gathered up some candles while the furniture moved out of his way, seemingly on its own accord. The candles started burning all at once, tinting the whole room green. When Loki finally knelt on the floor, it was without the book. He didn't need it; he already knew everything by heart.

He stayed kneeling in front of the circle when he was done and closed his eyes, and he stayed there for hours. Or maybe just minutes, it was hard to tell - time was such a ridiculous concept, so Loki thought every time he lost himself in magic.

Then, finally, a voice.

"You have to get better at this."

Loki opened his eyes, and what he saw was - well. Not exactly what he had expected. 

There was a man standing in the middle of the circle, looking down at Loki with a raised brow. He was - he was _ tiny _. Shorter than every Aesir Loki knew, so definitely also shorter than Loki himself. He had brown hair and dark eyes, a neatly trimmed beard, and he was dressed in clothes that Loki vaguely recognized as Midgardian.

Not quite what a demon was supposed to look like, Loki thought.

"What?" The man asked, baring white teeth. "Not what you expected?"

Loki looked up at him with wide eyes. Not a man, not really. A demon, no doubt. Loki had never seen, let alone talked to one before, but he knew that sort of magic now that he sensed it, realized how old and powerful it was. The energy rippling through this _ creature's _ core found its echo in the shiver that trickled down Loki's spine. He couldn't muster a response.

"Did you hear what I said? You have to get better at this. Took you ages to get me here, though I think -" The demon paused and looked around the room, considered the candles and the pattern Loki had drawn on the floor. "You haven't been sitting here for that long, have you?"

Loki's mouth was impossibly dry. He shook his head.

The dark eyes snapped back to him. The look in them had sharpened. "Are you even aware that you've been calling me for days?"

Something about that made Loki drop out of his haze, at least a little. "No, I - I started tonight, I -"

He thought about the book next to his pillow. His fingers tracing every line, eyes soaking up every word, thoughts already lost in the prospect of having - well, exactly this. 

Loki swallowed thickly.

"Do you even know how this works, little one?"

Loki had to look away. His fingers curled into the fabric of his pants as he tried to stay calm. "I do, yes. I summoned you, and now - now you have to strike a deal with me."

The demon hummed; a low sound that almost made Loki shiver again. "I know who you are," he said. "Loki, right?"

Loki stared at him. His name. The demon knew his name, and that could hardly be good. "Yes," Loki said, anyway, because he knew that there wasn't any point in lying.

"The princeling," the demon said, almost absently. "The reader. Yeah, I've heard of you. Your _ father _ isn't happy with anything you do and are."

Loki clenched his jaw and forced himself to hold the creature's gaze. "No, he is not."

The demon cocked his head to one side, studying Loki intently. "Is that why I'm here?"

"No," Loki replied, again truthfully. He was sure that the demon could give that to him, if Loki was willing to pay the price. The price for his father's acceptance would doubtlessly be rather high, and still - it was tempting. But, no, not what Loki wanted.

"Well then, _ Loki _," the demon said, crouching in front of the young mage. 

Just for a moment, the darkness in the room seemed to shift. The green light of the candles flickered and dimmed and then brightened again, and Loki caught a glimpse of burning eyes and shadows that almost looked like wings, so deeply red that they were almost black.

"Tell me." The demon, who had once been called the god of knowledge and was now only known as the merchant of death, grinned. "What do you desire?"

**Author's Note:**

> <strike>Psst. Yes, I am writing a continuation.</strike>


End file.
